


tumblr drabbles and the like

by WellyFullOfAle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Bit of everything, Fluff, M/M, Smut, Tumblr Prompts, it's all here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-11-01 04:27:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10914336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WellyFullOfAle/pseuds/WellyFullOfAle
Summary: Just a collection of the drabbles from my tumblr (wellyfullofale)A bit of everything - fluff, smut, and a little bit of ansgt





	1. ?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Some people believe that the first time Robert bottomed was during their first time at the hotel, because Aaron was loved up and Robert didn’t want to leave Aaron. How did Aaron ask Robert?

“I didn’t get us a late check out so we could talk about work,” Robert purred as he leant over, eyes full of that promise that Aaron was becoming so used to.

“Don’t you have to get back?” Aaron asked, unsure of himself all of sudden, weight of the growing realisation of his feelings lying heavy on his heart.

“Yeah, but, I don’t want to,” Robert replied, low and seductive. “Do you?”

He already knew the answer, watching as Aaron swallowed down the lump in his throat, blue eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips.

“No,” Aaron confirmed.

Robert went a little weak with the way Aaron looked up at him – could read that look in his eyes and knew what it meant, knew he was helpless himself in resisting Aaron when he looked at him like  he was doing.

He’d seen that look when he’d been buried six inches deep inside of Aaron the night before, and he might have assumed it could scare him, but the only thing he felt was an aching desire to give this man everything he had; everything he wanted.

“Well er, looks like you’re just stuck with me then.”

Robert smirked as he leant in to the kiss, crawling forwards on his knees to get closer to Aaron, who pulled away to turn and place his coffee cup down before returning his lips to Robert’s, onto his knees himself, duvet bunching in between them as he pulled him in close with a hand wrapped around his waist, fingertips warm against Robert’s skin.

Robert pulled at the soft lapels of his dressing gown, shoving the material past Aaron’s shoulders as he laughed into their kiss; taking his chance with those parted lips to dip his tongue inside.

Aaron felt the cold against his forearms and let go of Robert’s waist to wriggle free, arms up in the air straight away as he felt the tickle of Robert’s fingers against his waist, lifting up the hem of his t-shirt, their kiss parting for less than a second as Robert whipped his t-shirt up and over his head.

Aaron grunted as their lips reconnected, shuffling his knees closer still to feel the heat from Robert’s bare chest and thighs against his own, arms snaking back around as Robert flung his t-shirt across the room and pushed him down onto his back with the force of his kisses.

Aaron laughed, licking his lips as Robert loomed over him, smiling, playful; and Aaron opened his legs to let Robert fall between them; surprised when Robert batted his legs back together and straddled his hips instead, the material of both their boxers the only thing separating them from one another.

Robert pulled away, sitting up on his heels as he ground his arse down along the thick length of Aaron’s erection as he felt it between his arse cheeks.

Aaron was almost frowning back up at him; Robert biting down on his bottom lip as he held Aaron’s gaze, keeping a slow rhythm that Aaron soon joined in with, rolling his hips up to feel that extra bit of friction against Robert’s arse.

Robert hadn’t done this before – hadn’t even wanted to – but then Aaron was something new to him entirely. Aaron was the only man he’d shared a bed with more than once – and the only one he’d ever slept next to like he had done last night, and Robert realised he was the only man he had ever felt the urge to do this with.

With all of the others, they’d been a quick fuck in an alleyway or a hotel room on a business trip, and Robert hadn’t only relished the feel of being in control, but he’d _needed_ it too.

This was different.

Aaron was different.

He didn’t want to let himself think too much about _why_ Aaron was different from the rest – why he could feel this burning need inside of him to submit himself to Aaron; to let Aaron hold the reins for the first time and to experience the intensity of the kind of orgasm that he’d been so jealous of seeing plastered over Aaron’s face for the past few months – but he knew he needed it, more than he’d needed anything before.

Aaron saw the look in Robert’s eye, didn’t want to make assumptions but was sure it meant what he thought it did.

He hoped so – he’d always been versatile with the men he’d slept with before, but since being with Robert they’d fallen into this pattern of him being in charge. He wouldn’t ever object to it, but at times he had lain in bed awake at night and thought about how good it would feel to bury himself deep inside Robert – to make him groan as he fucked into him, as he took control and had Robert whimpering beneath him all under his command.

He’d wanted it; wanted it _so much,_ but he’d assumed Robert would never let him go there; that he was firmly a top and that he wouldn’t consider the rest.

Now he doubted himself.

Robert was riding him, hips rolling in a perfect motion to catch the head of his dick with each push forwards; Aaron’s eyes almost rolling into the back of his head at the sensation of it; stopped only by Aaron’s need to keep his gaze locked in with Robert’s as he tried to read him.

“You wanna?” Aaron asked, voice low and suggestive but dripping in concern all the same.

Robert caught his bottom lip between his teeth; unsure of himself all of a sudden as his hips rocked a little more slowly.

“We don’t have to – ”

“Yeah,” Robert interrupted him, his smile widening as if with relief that his world hadn’t crumbled down around him at his admission. “Yeah, I wanna,” he added, leaning forwards and taking Aaron’s lips in a searing kiss – all teeth and tongue and bitten lips as they rolled over in one swift motion – Aaron nestling in between Robert’s legs like he belonged there.

They laughed against each other’s kiss as Aaron adjusted himself, pushing up against the solidity of Robert’s erection as it nestled against his stomach – boxers still providing that hint of friction as they rubbed up against each other.

“You done it before?” Aaron asked, fully aware that Robert had a past before him but seemingly equally perceptive to the slight air of hesitation in Robert’s expression.

Robert shook his head, a silent admission that took Aaron by surprise.

“I want you,” he murmured, lifting his head up to close the gap between them as he took Aaron’s lips; hips still rolling to keep that delicious friction between them.

Aaron’s heart swelled.

He didn’t want to think about what that meant.

It wasn’t good for him to place too much importance on the words coming out of Robert’s mouth, or the reason behind his uninhibited request to let Aaron take the lead.

“Only if you want to, though,” Robert added, aware he hadn’t ascertained whether Aaron had any interest in topping.

He couldn’t have known that his mouth was watering at the mere prospect of it.

“’Course I do,” Aaron whispered as he claimed Robert’s mouth with his own again, pushing down against him with more force this time as he felt Robert’s hands move down from his back to his arse, grabbing it the muscle there as he slid down Aaron’s boxer shorts; Aaron pulling himself away from Robert for the few seconds it took to rid himself and Robert of their last items of clothing.

He looked at Robert’s dick as it throbbed against his belly, his own length hovering between them, the sight of it almost too much as he leant down, his dick making contact with Robert’s and the both of them groaning in unison at the feeling; desperate to bring their lips together again in anticipation of what was to come.

Aaron pulled away, reaching over to grab the condom and lube sat on the bedside table from the night before.

“Be gentle,” Robert smirked up at him, as Aaron slicked his fingers up in lube to prepare Robert for his thick length.

“To begin with,” Robert added with a glint in his eye.

It wasn’t long until those eyes were rolling into the back of his head, as Aaron spent the next half an hour showing Robert exactly what he’d been missing out on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I wish you would write a fic, where a client is really biphobic towards Robert. Maybe in the scrapyard and Aaron sees the exchange. And he's fully expecting a really snarky, insult from Robert to the client. Instead, Rob looks very resigned and like he's accepting it. And later he tells Aaron that this happened before. And how he felt not good enough.

Aaron’s unsure if he overhears them incorrectly.

He’s far enough away from the conversation that he could have misheard.

He can tell by the way that Robert’s holding himself a little less arrogantly than usual that he probably didn’t, though.

He watches his husband from the other side of the scrapyard, hands on his hips in his usual way, but he’s shifting uncomfortably on his feet, and his gaze drops to the floor in a very un-Robert move as the clients banter away with him.

Aaron’s stomach bowls over.

He frowns, shooting daggers through narrowed eyes at the two men stood talking to his husband outside of the portacabin; making him feel clearly uncomfortable.

He tugs at a chunk of stubborn metal in the engine he’s pulling to pieces, cursing as he nearly traps his fingers when it won’t break free, keeping his moans low to allow him to try and listen into their conversation still.

He can’t hear them properly; can’t make out enough of the words, but his anger bubbles under the surface, and he could try to blame it on this engine part that won’t budge but he knows it’s all directed at the two men who are clearly making his husband feel so uncomfortable.

Nobody’s allowed to do that to Robert.

Not if he had anything to do with it.

He strains to listen in, trying not to make it look obvious as he battles over whether he should go over there and intervene; give them a piece of his mind.

He sees them head towards their car, and his shoulders sink down in relief.

He hadn’t realised how tense they’d become since he overheard what they had said when they’d walked out of the portacabin.

“You need to make your mind up, Sugden,” the taller one had said to Robert, before he’d glanced over and nodded in Aaron’s direction, “or can’t you do that anymore,” he added with a smirk towards his weasel of an accomplice, who’d laughed back at him sycophantically.

Robert hadn’t laughed.

Aaron had noticed that.

He also hadn’t offered back some cocksure, witty, Robert Sugden-esque reply like Aaron had been expecting, either.

And that’s what’s lying heavy on Aaron’s heart for the remainder of the day, as Robert avoids his conversation and locks himself away inside the cabin.

He decides to leave it until they get home that night – until Robert’s stood in their kitchen, attention split between whatever’s cooking in the foil wrapped parcels in the oven and the sauce he’s stirring in the pan on the hob.

Aaron lets his hands circle Robert’s waist as he approaches him from behind, leaning up to place a kiss against Robert’s neck, comforted in the way the Robert leans into his embrace so easily.

He was deep in thought, and not that that wasn’t something Robert was immune to – far from it – but it wasn’t the side to Robert that Aaron was used to seeing on a Thursday evening.

He let Robert enjoy his embrace for a few quiet moments, swaying lightly with his husband as he stirred at the pan; Aaron resting his chin in the crook of Robert’s neck as they found comfort in each other’s silence.

Robert moved to take the parcels out of the oven, leaving them to rest on the side for a few moments; Aaron pulling away from him as he moved around the kitchen. He backed himself up to the cabinets to the left of where Robert was cooking, and hoisted himself up onto the worktop, palms gripping at the rounded edges, legs swinging as his heels hit back against the plain, white, handle-less cupboards.

Robert tutted at him and frowned.

Aaron smiled and steadied his legs.

Robert smiled as he looked away from him, and Aaron found his moment to bring it up.

“Were they being dicks today?” he asked quietly.

Robert stilled, before sighing and glancing in Aaron’s directions, but finding himself unable to look his husband in the eye.

“ ‘s fine,” he lied in response, eyes fixed on the pan in front of him.

Aaron watched his movements as he stirred the sauce in a figure of eight.

“You don’t have to pretend, you know,” Aaron let out, voice so soft it was almost at a whisper.

Robert felt his heart swell in his chest.

He glanced up at Aaron knowingly, despite his shrug attempting to say the opposite.

“Pretend what?”

Aaron sighed, shoulders dropping as he titled his head to try and catch Robert’s eye.

“I heard what they said,” he told his husband, tone laced with a kindness that made Robert’s heart beat faster; a wave of affection ebbing through him.

“It’s nothing,” he lied, attempting to break up the course of the conversation as he reached for two plates out of the cupboard under Aaron’s legs, batting at his shins until he held his legs out horizontally to allow Robert access to the cupboard.

They descended into a silence again as Robert plated up their meals; Aaron almost giving up as he slid down off the worktop and moved to the table, where Robert was laying down his tea.

They ate in silence for a few moments, until Robert let out an aching sigh, placing his knife and fork back down and resting his elbows upon the table.

“They’ve done it before,” Robert admitted, conviction in his tone that hadn’t been present all afternoon.

Aaron put down his own knife and fork, willing his husband to look up at him.

He did so, eventually, and Aaron could see the tears threatening to fall; a sight so unfamiliar to him, even now.

“They’ve always been idiots,” he opened up further, sighing heavily. 

“Why do you still work with them then?” Aaron asked, like it was ever that easy to turn down good business.

“I’ve worked with them for years,” Robert explained. “They bring in a lot of money, and it’s the only reason I haven’t told them where to go yet. They’ve always been the same though, and they always used to say stuff about Chrissie. I always used to just ignore them or pretend to laugh. They found out I’d remarried, and that it was to you, and they haven’t let up.”

“Call them out on it – ”

“I can’t – I’ve tried!” he interrupted forcefully, frustration with himself and not his husband, but frustrated all the same that he couldn’t bring himself to do what he knew he should be doing. “They think it’s hilarious – ”

“It’s obviously not – ”

“I know, Aaron!” he snapped again, exasperated, “but what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Make them know it’s not okay for them to say things like that to you,” Aaron answered him calmly, but Robert couldn’t help the frustration rising at how easy his husband had made it sound.

It was a stark contrast to how it felt to him.

He didn’t exactly feel comfortable talking about this at the best of times – he’d found the strength to accept himself, and his love for Aaron was such as big part of that, but he wasn’t there yet – wasn’t at the point where he could just own his sexuality no matter who tried to use it as a weapon against him.

A part of him wished he was the kind of guy who could just attack their biphobia towards him as fervently as he would had the insult been directed towards his husband or his family.

But he couldn’t.

Maybe he just didn’t see himself worth protecting as much.

He’d just resign himself to having to live with it – to having to grit his teeth and bear it.

He probably deserved it, after all.

“You don’t deserve it, Robert. You shouldn’t have to deal with it.”

It was as if Aaron had read his mind, and as he brought his head up to meet his husband’s gaze, he had to catch his breath as the overwhelming sensation of love and pride and safety encompassed him.

He offered him a small smile in thanks.

“I’m just no good at talking about these things,” he conceded, as if in defeat, “and much less in confronting some idiot about it when I haven’t even got my head around it myself yet.”

Aaron smiled at him warmly across the dinner table.

“Well next time, tell me, and I’ll shut them up, okay?”

Robert let out a laugh and returned his smile.

“We’re a team, Rob, and I’ve got your back, okay?” Aaron continued.

Robert wasn’t sure his heart had ever felt so full with love and belonging as it did in that exact second.

His husband – the love of his life – protecting him against all of those demons that he didn’t have the strength to fight on his own.

“I love you,” Robert said, because it was the only thing he could offer Aaron in return in that moment.

“I know,” Aaron smiled, eyes glinting with that soft expression Robert would never tire of seeing. “Now eat your tea, it’s going cold.”


	3. I bet you can't go 24 hours without cussing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I bet you can’t go 24 hours without cussing
> 
> Takes place at some point between the abuse reveal and their reunion.

Aaron noticed the way Robert looked at him, now.

There was a softness to it that reminded him of the way Robert had been that week he’d stopped at Home Farm almost a year before, when Aaron had still been dizzy in the memory of the way Robert loved him.

Actually loved him.

He’d told him that then, and he told him again just a few short weeks ago.

_“Because I still love you.”_

He’d said it like it was the easiest thing for Aaron hear.

But how could it be?

After everything they’d done to one another – how could it be so easy to still love him?

It was a battle he’d fought all year, because after it all fell away – after the anger, and the resentment, and the bitterness all diluted over time – the love remained.

And Aaron had hated himself for it to begin with; it was another reason why he’d had no choice but to run.

Until Robert had stopped him.

Saved him, but stopped him too.

Stopped him from running from Gordon, and his mum, and helped him face up to everything he’d hidden away in the recesses of his mind, in a box he’d triple locked and double bolted shut and thrown away every key to.

Robert had helped him, and Robert had been there for him, and he couldn’t have done any of this without Robert.

The rational side to him could see it, easily.

 _This_ was a different Robert; not the same guy who’d stood in that scrapyard last year and used his intricate knowledge of Aaron’s innermost thoughts to be able to grind on his every nerve ending and leave him reeling.

 _That_ Robert wasn’t the same guy who’d stood by him, and listened to him, and saved his life in more ways than just the literal sense.

He knew that.

So he could sit here in his pub, now, with this Robert by his side, in this strangely casual more-than-a-friendship they were moulding tentatively from the ashes of their love and their hatred and their need for one another.

He could let himself hold company with the man who’d lied to him, and manipulated him, and hurt him with his words in ways he hadn’t known possible.

He could sit here with him, because he knew Robert was better now; a better version of himself; a version Aaron could let himself believe he could build a life with, despite everything that had gone before.

The problem was that voice in the back of his mind – hidden way past his ability to rationalise – that insisted on dredging up the past and allowing his doubts to fester.

“What’s up?” Robert asked, cutting through his thoughts with that soft, gentle, concerned tone that Aaron hadn’t ever heard Robert use on anyone but himself.

Aaron shook his head, trying to brush off the question, but Robert placed a gentle hand on his forearm as it lay under the table, and Aaron turned to look him warily in the eye.

“I can tell there’s something you’re thinking about,” Robert pried with concern. “You can talk to me.”

Aaron swallowed, scanning the almost-empty bar to ensure they were out of earshot.

He sighed heavily, and shifted to turn his body towards Robert in the booth.

“You…you said you still love me?”

He shrugged and rolled his eyes as he said it, as if he only half-believed it and wasn't close to understanding it.

Robert almost smiled at Aaron bringing up the topic, until he saw the way it made Aaron look almost uncomfortable; unsure of himself.

“I do,” Robert answered, hoping Aaron picked up on his sincerity and lack of hesitation.

Aaron cast his eyes to the ceiling, unsure if he really wanted to go down this path when they were slowly finding level ground again.

“I thought,” he started, pausing as he sighed and then let himself look Robert in the eye. “You said things. You said I was…a basket case. Tapped. That’s what you think, ain’t it? A failure at everything. That you wished you’d run a mile as soon as I took my top off. You said - ”

“Aaron, don’t,” Robert stopped him, before Aaron's tears started to fall as he let the memory come into focus.

It’s the same concern that’s been plaguing him since they’d sat in that darkened room a few weeks ago; when Robert had uttered those words to him and brought back all those memories.  

And Robert knows – knows the bile that spurned from his twisted lips had lodged itself in Aaron’s memory; taken residence over and above any of the _good_ things he’d ever let himself admit to Aaron in their time during the affair.

It sends a wave of regret coursing through him, and he knows he needs years to make this up to him.

But he can start with now.

He held Aaron’s gaze as he steeled himself; this level of honesty still unnervingly new for him.

“I said those things because I wanted to hurt you. And I’m sorry, Aaron, I’m so sorry,” he noticed how Aaron glanced down, breaking away from his gaze, until Robert shifted his head to meet his eyeline again and challenged Aaron to hold it with him. “Things weren’t…things weren’t good for me, at the time. My head was all over the place. And I was hurt – I was annoyed that I’d lied to the police and kept you out of it and you didn’t care – ”

“Were there really others?” Aaron interrupted him, chewing at the inside of his gum.

“No, of course not,” Robert assured him with the truth. “I didn’t need anyone but you, Aaron. I loved you – I still love you.”

Aaron let out a disbelieving laugh and looked away.

It stabbed into Robert’s chest, how Aaron didn’t believe it, still – believed his words of six months ago in that scrapyard above his words of today.

He’d spend a lifetime changing that, if Aaron would let him.

“I was scared, Aaron,” he continued, needing to get the words out as he held Aaron’s pensive gaze. “The way I feel about you, it scares me. Or it did scare me, and I did things I wasn’t proud of. But through it all, I loved you. Because of your flaws. Because you’re not perfect. Because you care, more than I’ve ever known anyone care – about your family, about your friends. About me, maybe," he added it tentatively, aware of the flicker of Aaron's eyelashes and the clench of his jaw alongside it. "Because you care about doing what’s right. Because of your questionable taste in music. Because you look great in a suit, and yet you’d rather wear those godawful Adidas trackies. Because I bet you can’t go 24 hours without cussing – ”

“Fuck off,” Aaron breathed out with a slight laugh that made Robert’s face light up.

They smiled together, as if a weight of some sorts had been lifted.

“I mean it though,” Robert reiterated when they’d taken a second to appreciate the moment they’d found themselves in. “I fought it a lot of the time, but I’ve got my head straight now. And you’re still in here,” he gestured with his fist to the left side of his chest.

Aaron followed his fist with his eyes, and felt his body tense up with the weight of what Robert was telling him.

He believed him, and maybe that was the most important part.

“I need some time, Robert, I,” he let out on a whisper, words faltering slightly as if the rest of his sentence hung unfinished in the air between them.

He saw Robert smile, and he felt his shoulders drop as he relaxed with it.

“I know,” Robert assured him, hand on his forearm again. “And I’ll wait. I’m waiting. I’m here.”


	4. Meeting Hazel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fic prompt - Hazel bumping into Aaron somewhere and finding him with a house, a husband, a sister and a beard

Aaron knew the date.

It was forever etched into his heart; his soul.

It was something he’d never escape from, after all.

He slinked out of their house early that day, without Robert. He knew Robert was due in Leeds for a meeting, and he threw himself into lugging scrap metal around for the day as he tried to wrap his head around his memories.

It wasn’t that Robert didn’t know what day it was – they’d talked about it, albeit infrequently and in an incredibly stunted manner – but Robert knew more than anything that Aaron needed to be left alone to process his thoughts about it all.

About Jackson.

About what he’d done _for_ Jackson.

It was one of many demons he kept fighting, but this day would always bring it all to the fore, no matter how much he tried to suppress it.

He was tired of fighting with car engines come 3pm, and Adam didn’t bat an eyelid when Aaron slammed the bonnet of the car he was working on and cursed as he retreated back down the driveway to the scrapyard.

Adam knew the date, too.

Aaron paced through the village and into David’s shop, not uttering a word as he picked up a four pack and slammed a fiver down on the desk.

He made his way up to the graveyard, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a familiar figure standing next to Jackson’s grave.

Hazel.

He thought about turning and running away from her – wasn’t sure he had the strength to battle through that conversation with her – but all in a second he was too late as she turned and spotted him.

Her face broke into a smile.

Aaron didn’t know what to do; how to look.

He had dealt with it all – had found peace with himself over what had happened – but seeing her again, and on this day, it was almost too much for him.

She could sense it – he knew – but she still turned and made her way towards him, arms outstretched and wrapping around his broad shoulders as she reached where he stood.

He let her hug him; he knew it would make her feel better if nothing else.

“How have you been?” she asked as she pulled away from him.

He smiled at her.

Where did he start?

He offered her one of the four pack of cans he was holding, and she laughed as she took it from him and cracked it open.

He took a second to crack open a third can, and poured a glut of it over Jackson’s grave, nodding down at the headstone as he rested the can up against it.

He returned to Hazel’s side and opened his own can, and they clinked their cans together as they made their way over to the bench next to Jackson’s grave.

“Good,” he answered her, eventually.

“Is that all I get?” she smiled back, aware it had been over eight years since they’d seen or spoken to one another.

Aaron laughed back at her.

“Well, a lot’s happened,” he replied, still as vague as ever. “What are you doing back here?”

She sighed, taking a sip from her can and pulling a face at how disgusting it tasted.

“I’ve settled in Manchester now,” she explained. “I wanted to come and see my boy, I’ve been away too long. You know me, I don’t like to remember him by staring at a mound of earth, but it felt like it was about time to come back here.”

Aaron nodded.

They sat together in silence for a short while, sipping at their drinks, until Hazel let out a laugh after taking another swig.

“What?” Aaron quizzed her.

“He always did moan about you buying the cheapest lager,” she chuckled.

Aaron paused, before he joined with her laughing.

“He moaned a lot,” he added.

“That’s true,” she confirmed with a smile. “He was a sarcastic little bugger, for sure.”

Aaron felt his phone vibrating in his jeans pocket, and he fished it out to see Robert calling him – the photo of the two of them with Liv on their wedding day staring up at him, aware of Hazel’s watchful eye over his shoulder, taking it in.

“Sorry,” he nodded towards her as he answered the call, his chest constricting with the sound of his husband’s voice down the phone.

“Hiya,” he answered casually.

“Hi, how are you?” Robert replied, his tone full of concern.

Aaron sighed.

“’m okay, just at the graveyard.”

“I love you,” Robert whispered down the line after a pause.

“I know,” Aaron smiled back. “You too.”

He glanced over at Hazel, wondering if she knew what Robert must have said to him to garner that response.

“Let me cook for you tonight,” Robert pleaded down the line to him. “Let me look after you.”

His heart skipped at beat at the gesture.

“Okay,” Aaron accepted all too willingly, as he usually did these days.

“When will you be back?”

“An hour or so.”

“Okay, see you in a bit.”

“Bye.”

Aaron hung up and sighed, pushing his phone back into his pocket as he glanced up at Hazel and caught her eye.

“Boyfriend?” she asked casually.

“Husband,” Aaron corrected her, flashing her his wedding ring as if she’d need proof.

“Wow,” she answered, smiling. “He’s quite a looker,” she added, having caught sight of the photo as Aaron’s phone had rung.

“Yeah,” Aaron laughed. “Just don’t let him hear you say that.”

She raised an eyebrow at him that begged for further explanation.

“He’s got the biggest ego,” Aaron smiled as he shook his head, taking another swig of his can. “I’m surprised he can fit his massive head through the door of our place!”

“You’ve got your own place?” she asked brightly.

“Yeah, Mill Cottage,” he confirmed, aware that she must remember it from her time in the village. “And a business together, with Adam, too. It’s only a scrapyard, hence this,” he added as he pointed towards the oil and dirt covering his hands and jacket.

“I gathered you’d been working,” she teased. “Either that or you’d really let yourself go.”

Aaron laughed.

“Turns out you’re doing really well for yourself,” she praised him genuinely. “I’m so happy for you. And Jackson would be, too.”

Aaron looked down to the floor to hide the mixed feelings her words had invoked.

“Who’s the girl?”

Aaron looked up at her, confused.

She pointed towards where his phone had been in his hand.

“The girl in the picture on your phone. Is that his daughter?”

Aaron let out a laugh.

“No, that’s my sister. She lives with us.”

She raised her eyebrows lightly.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a sister?”

Aaron raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“Yeah, we…we found each other again.”

He didn’t want to go into the details of their reunion, but it made him realise there was so much about his life that she didn’t know.

He didn’t think it would hurt to catch up with her properly.

“Do you fancy meeting them?”

He took himself by surprise a little, and he could tell by her reaction that she hadn’t been expecting it.

“Come round ours for a bit, if you like. Robert – my husband – he’s cooking.”

She smiled at him – that warm, motherly smile that he remembered so fondly about her sometimes.

“I’d like that,” she accepted, and he nodded as he stood up.

“Have you got better beer at yours, though?” she joked.

“Oh, you should see Robert’s booze fridge,” he laughed back as they walked side by side down the path towards the village.

Aaron took his phone from his pocket, and sent Robert a quick text to let him know to expect them.

“Beard looks good, by the way,” Hazel piped up next to him, and he huffed out a breath as he felt the blush creep into his cheeks.

“Ta,” he replied; coy all of a sudden.

“It does,” she shrilled back at him, all bright and breezy as she always was. “It makes you look rugged, and handsome. I bet your Robert loves it.”

Aaron didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he smiled as his chest constricted, knowing it to be true, and he let his feet fall into step with Hazel’s as they made their way through the village to his home.


	5. Meeting Hazel Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous chapter - Hazel goes back to the Mill to meet Robert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got quite a few requests on tumblr for a part 2 to this - so here it is! Only took me...a few months...sorry! :/

Aaron felt a little apprehensive as they approached the Mill, although he didn’t really know why.

Something about his past colliding with his present, most likely.

It made him a little uncomfortable; anxious

Hazel had managed to fill the air between them with inane conversation on their walk from the graveyard, and Aaron couldn't deny he was grateful for once for her ability to chatter away so effortlessly.  
  
He'd found it quite grating, once upon a time - when he'd just wanted to spend some time alone with Jackson and she'd insisted on hanging around, unable to gauge when she was no longer welcome - but he welcomed it now. He quite liked it actually, hearing all about what she'd been up to in the years since he'd last seen her. She'd been travelling, and had spent some time working at an art college in London, until she'd met a guy and moved up to Manchester where she now lived.  


She was halfway through explaining to Aaron all about her new love of street art after discovering how much of it was dotted around Manchester when they reached the top of the driveway to the Mill.

"Down here," Aaron told her as he pointed down the path to their home.  
  
He looked up at Hazel, who raised her eyebrows and looked over at him, suitably impressed and – if he could believe it would be possible – a little lost for words.  
  
"What? I told you I was living at the Mill," he retorted casually, despite being unable to ignore the little drop of pride he felt at the look she was giving him.  
  
"Well, I forgot which one the Mill was," she smiled back at him, waving her arms to dismiss her lack of memory. "And I thought to myself it was this one, but I said to myself Hazel, that place is huge and he's only a mechanic you'll have got your quaint Emmerdale cottages confused."  
  
He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, struggling to keep up with her stream of consciousness.   
  
"But I was right, wasn’t I?” she beamed back at him. “Oh, Aaron I'm so proud of you, you must be doing well to afford to buy this place."  
  
She reached out and squeezed his arm, and he couldn't help the smile that played out over his face, even if it was one-sided.  
  
"Is it your fella?" she asked, oblivious to the slight insult. "Has he got a bit of cash has he? As well as being gorgeous?"  
  
Aaron sighed, shaking his head.  
  
He didn't really want to go into the specifics of how he'd managed to afford the place - that was a whole conversation for another day – so he decided to give her a half truth and hope she’d leave it at that.  
  
"Just...come into some inheritance," he murmured as he approached the front door and pulled his keys from his pocket.  
  
Her face paled and a look of horror washed over her.  
  
"Oh my god. Is it Chas? Is she o -"  
  
"She's fine," Aaron interrupted her, assuring her before she got too carried away with herself, not realising what the mention of inheritance would cause her to assume.  
  
"Oh, thank god," she let out the breath she’d been holding along with what seemed like genuine relief, bringing her palm to her chest as if to steady her heart rate.  
  
They might have had a weird relationship, but Hazel knew better than most what Aaron had been through, and he knew she'd not want him to have endured any more loss than he already had done.  
  
He took out his key and unlocked the porch door, walking in first before gesturing to welcome her into the corridor.

“So was it your Dad?” Hazel asked, nosy as ever. “Who passed?”

Aaron didn’t like referring to him as that – made his cheek twitch at the sound of the word – but he wanted to change the subject so he nodded and hoped she’d drop the subject.

She didn’t.

This was Hazel, after all, and Aaron seemed to have forgotten her knack for inadvertently sticking her foot in it.

“That explains the arrival of the sister,” she smirked, appearing pleased with herself for working it out. “Oh, Aaron, it’s lovely that you’ve taken her in when she’s grieving – ”

“Just, don’t mention him, yeah?” Aaron stopped her in her tracks, needing her to drop the mention of _him_ before she came into contact with Liv.

Hazel went wide eyed and pulled her finger and thumb together in the corner of her mouth, swiping them across her lips as if to zip her mouth shut.

“Liv – my sister – she doesn’t need reminding about it right now,” he added the half-truth, well aware it was himself who didn’t need reminding more than anyone.

He waited for her to nod, before jangling his keys and opening up their front door.

“Oh my word, Aaron,” she marvelled as she stepped inside and let her eyes travel around the expanse of the room – taking in how it looked so well-put-together in a way that she’d never expect from the Aaron she knew – and gravitating towards the mantelpiece, littered with photo frames of happy memories and smiling faces.

“Blimey, even you’re smiling in this one, Aaron,” she noted with a chuckle, picking up the frame and thrusting it in Aaron’s face.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a half smile as he looked at the photo.

It still made his heart skip a beat, even now.

“Wedding day,” he added, by way of explanation. “Well, the first one, anyway.”

She frowned and gave Aaron that look that told him she needed more of that story.

He winced, unsure whether he really wanted to rake back over the times that _hadn’t_ been perfect for himself and Robert; why they’d needed two wedding days in the end.

There was a part of him that only wanted her to know his successes, for some reason.

He heard footsteps down the metal staircase, and welcomed the distraction of Robert’s arrival to put her off course.

“Ooh, hello,” she smiled shamelessly as Robert made his way to the bottom step. “You must be Robert,” she continued, shuffling her way past the furniture to make her way towards Robert.

Aaron laughed as he saw his husband’s outstretched hand, well aware that Hazel would swoop in straight for the hug.

He was right, and he bit on his lip and let out a laugh at Robert’s alarmed expression over her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, his arms outstretched to his sides, unsure where to place themselves.

“Hazel Rhodes, you can call me Hazel,” she beamed as she finally pulled away from him, holding onto his elbows as she held him at arm’s length to inspect him properly. “Well, I thought you looked good on that photo, but it doesn’t do you justice, does it? Haven’t you done well, Aaron.”

Robert raised his eyebrows and looked over to his husband, unable to stop the smile from spreading over his face.

“Well, thank – ”

“Aaron said you were a looker,” she continued, interrupting him, “of course he said not to let you hear me say it, but I couldn’t stop myself, although he says you’ve got a bit of an ego.”

Robert laughed in Aaron’s direction.

“Oh, he does, does he?” he teased, taking the opportunity to wriggle out of Hazel’s grip on his elbows as Aaron approached them.

“She’s making it up,” Aaron rolled his eyes as he leant in and placed a chaste kiss against his husband’s lips.

Hazel looked on, beaming smile taking over her face, before she noticed Aaron’s glare towards her and snapped herself out of it, making her way to the other side of the room to explore a little further.

“Good day?” Aaron asked his husband quietly, slipping into the usual routine.

“Fine, you?” Robert replied, almost at a whisper as he eyed Hazel manoeuvring around their front room, intrigued by their pool ball feature on the wall. “I’ve been thinking about you,” he added, concern seeping from his expression as he locked eyes with Aaron.

He offered his husband a grateful smile in return; still wasn’t sure how he’d quite got this lucky, to be able to know this side of Robert so familiarly.

“She’s helped, actually,” Aaron admitted, looking towards Hazel as she glanced back over to him. “In her own…Hazel way.”

“I’m guessing your Robert’s the interior designer, Aaron,” she called over, gingerly trying to work out the lighting contraption in the fire place before giving up and moving back to the photographs.

“How did you guess?” he replied sarcastically with another roll of his eyes.

“Well, you were never into making things look nice, were you?” she carried on, oblivious to his sarcasm as she flicked through a pile of letters kept in a letter rack on the mantelpiece.

“Wow, stained glass, too,” she marvelled as she ran a hand over the front door. “Definitely not your work, Aaron, I would put money on it.”

“Yeah, well, Robert did most of the decorating when I was – ” _in prison –_ “away.”

No harm in keeping _those_ particular details hidden, was there?

Not when she seemed so impressed with everything else Aaron had got right since she’d left.

“Drink, anyone?” Robert swiftly changed the subject, as aware of his husbands _almost_ confession as he was of his growing unease at this stranger rifling through his worldly possessions without inhibition.

“You read my mind,” Hazel tore herself away from prying to give Robert her full attention. “Where’s this booze fridge Aaron’s told me about?”

“Right this way,” Robert encouraged her, waiting for her to follow him into the kitchen and sighing with a modicum of relief that she’d stopped rifling through his stuff.

“Tell me you’ve got something better than the lager he’s just made me drink,” she pleaded as Robert gestured towards their drinks fridge, aware of the way her eyes lit up as she saw it.

“Nowt wrong with that lager,” Aaron grumbled as he made his way into the kitchen behind them.

“You drink it then,” Hazel teased, before pulling out a bottle of wine and thrusting it in Robert’s chest. “This one’ll do. Where are your glasses?”

Robert widened his eyes, still a little perturbed at her forthrightness.

Aaron smiled to himself, aware of all the parts of Hazel’s personality that would be rubbing up Robert the wrong way.

“Above the sink,” Aaron informed her.

She opened up every cabinet door anyway, before finally producing two wine glasses and placing them onto the worktop next to Robert.

He filled them obligingly, before beckoning Hazel back to the front room, joining Aaron as they sat on the sofas and waited for tea to cook.

Hazel filled the space with an endless stream of questions, eager to know how they’d met, and who had proposed, and what the wedding had been like.

Robert did most of the talking, Aaron grateful that he managed to give the rose-tinted account of their history and to keep alive this strange sense of pride that Hazel seemed to beam with on hearing how well he was doing.

It was the version of their story that was suitable for small talk and dinner guests.

It was the version _without_ manslaughter, kidnap, prison and unwanted pregnancies.

The version Aaron needed reminding of, on today of all days; Robert filling in their love story with little details that made Aaron’s heart race, no matter how many times he heard them.

_“We couldn’t stay away from each other.”_

_“Of course I chose him.”_

_“I realised he’s the only person who’s ever made me truly happy.”_

_“I knew I couldn’t live without him.”_

Each new line got Robert a flicker of Aaron’s gaze in his direction, and a small smile playing across his lips, and more than likely a taste of Aaron’s gratitude later on, as soon as they’re alone again.

Hazel lapped it all up, cooing in all the appropriate moments, and Robert had her eating out of the palm of his hand.

Liv appeared briefly at one point – frowning in confusion at the sight of the strange woman sitting on her couch – before Aaron introduced her and Liv offered nothing more than the slightest flicker of recognition at the name Jackson.

She plated herself up a portion of the dinner and took herself off to her room after offering an awkward _Hi_ in Hazel’s direction.

“She’s your sister, all right,” Hazel commented, nodding playfully towards Aaron.

He felt compelled to apologise on Liv’s behalf, but he couldn’t help but find himself agreeing with Hazel, well aware it was exactly what he would have done at having found himself in that situation at Liv’s age.

“You’re not wrong,” Robert agreed with her, breathing out a laugh.

They sat and ate dinner, Robert and Aaron able to make it through barely saying a word as Hazel managed to chatter away, telling tales about her travels and slipping in snapshots of memories of the life she lived in the village.

Snapshots of her and Jackson, before _everything_ happened.

Snapshots of her time with Aaron and Jackson, in the beginning, and in the end.

Robert noticed every uncomfortable moment flicker over Aaron’s expression, and he brushed his foot up against Aaron’s calf under the table each time, Aaron offering a gentle smile in recognition of his husband’s strong and silent support.

Aaron found himself wondering how he ever got so lucky.

He wondered whether the version of himself that Jackson knew could have ever dreamed of finding what he had now, with Robert.

He’d probably barely recognise himself, he mused.

::

Two bottles of wine and an overstayed welcome later, Hazel finally made tracks to leave.

Robert made his excuses, retreating back into the kitchen under the guise of washing up as he let Aaron walk her back up to the village for her taxi.

“Bye, Robert. Lovely to meet you,” she called out as she pulled on her boots and threw her coat around her shoulders.

“You too,” he called out back to her. “Safe trip home.”

“Just look after this one, he’s not as strong as he looks,” she smiled as she made her way out of the door.

Aaron frowned, about to enter a protest when Robert replied to her.

“He’s the strongest man I know, Hazel.”

Aaron’s insides melted, and he swallowed down and bit at his lip to stop the smile from spreading.

“Blimey, he’s a proper Prince Charming, ain’t he?” Hazel joked as Aaron manoeuvred her out of the flat and down the corridor.

“Wouldn’t go that far,” Aaron huffed with a hint of amusement.

They walked in an unfamiliar but amiable silence into the village, almost as if they’d said all they could say to one another, and that the rest of it needed to remain unspoken.

They’d always have a connection, Aaron and Hazel – would always have been through what they went through together – and it gave them a deeper level of understanding between them that didn’t need words to express it.

It was in the silence that the most was said, sometimes.

“Taxi’s here,” Aaron noted, pointing across to the car parked up with its headlights on.

Aaron spotted Finn waiting in the taxi parked up outside the pub, and felt a slight wave of relief that it was him and not Ross who had the pleasure of Hazel’s company all the way into Hotten.

He faltered as Hazel grabbed him and pulled him into a hug – hesitant at first, before he let himself relax into it, aware that she was squeezing him a little tighter and as if she never wanted to let go.

He knew why she was doing it.

He knew it made her feel closer to Jackson, somehow.

He gave into it, and squeezed her back a little, too.

He saw Jackson’s face as he shut his eyes, and he clenched his teeth together as that flash of pain he’d gotten so good at supressing coursed through him once again.

It was rare for him to feel it, these days – now that he had everything; now that he was finally happy. But it was still there. It never left him.

It never would.

He pulled away, needing release from it.

He noticed the track of a tear down Hazel’s face.

“It’s been good,” Aaron admitted, his words a little reluctant in his usual way. “Seeing you, today, it…I dunno, it helped, I guess.”

Hazel nodded back at him, swallowing down the lump in her throat.

“Yeah,” she agreed, with a smile full of melancholy. “Yeah, it helped me too.”

Aaron rubbed his face with his hands, aware of the tickle of a tear as it passed down his cheek.

“You better get going,” he nodded over at the taxi. “These cabs don’t like waiting, y’know.”

Hazel smiled back at him.

“I know you probably don’t want to hear it, knowing you,” she started, protesting at Aaron’s rolling eyes as he realised what was coming. “Oi, look at me,” she pleaded with a smile, repeating it until Aaron relented and met her eyes with his. “I’m really happy for you, Aaron. I can tell you’re happy, and you’re settled, and you’ve got a family who love you. You deserve it, Aaron, you really do – ”

“Shut up,” he muttered under his breath; embarrassed.

“No, listen,” she pleaded back at him. “You _do_ deserve it, Aaron. I’ll never forget what you did for me, and for my son.  All I want for you – and all Jackson would want for you – is for you to be happy, and for you to find someone to love you the way you deserve to be loved. And your Robert,” she widened her eyes as the smile grew over her face, “well, he’s enough to keep anyone happy, I’d imagine, ego or not.”

Aaron couldn’t help but smile, despite his eye roll.

“Look after yourself, Aaron,” she urged him, squeezing at his arms as she pulled herself away. “It’s all he would have wanted.”

Aaron nodded.

“You too, Hazel.”

He watched her smile, then turn to make her way towards the taxi, waiting for Finn to pull away and giving her a quick wave before making his way home.

Robert was waiting for him, perched on the edge of the sofa.

He stood up as soon as Aaron made his way back through the door, saying nothing as he walked towards his husband, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and pulled him in close.

Aaron let himself be held; let himself feel the safety of his husband’s embrace as his love encircled him; let himself wrap his own arms around Robert’s waist, fingers grabbing onto the material of his shirt and squeezing with everything he had.

“Thank you,” he whispered into Robert’s chest as they swayed together gently.

Robert kissed against his forehead.

“I’m always here, you know,” he whispered the words into Aaron’s skin.

Aaron nuzzled further into the hug, then pressed a kiss against the underside of Robert’s jaw.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it - let me know your thoughts.
> 
> Come join me on tumblr - wellyfullofale


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